College Baseball Star Accused of Raping Tourist

NASSAU, Bahamas — The Florida International baseball player with a record-setting 56-game hitting streak has been charged with rape in the Bahamas, court officials in the islands’ capital said Monday.

Garrett Wittels was accused of raping a 17-year-old teenage tourist on Dec. 20 while on a visit to the archipelago east of Florida. The 20-year-old infielder ended last season with the second-longest hitting streak in NCAA Division I history, two behind the 58-game run by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.

Two of Wittels’ friends also face rape charges, officials said.

Robert Rothschild, 21, of New York, was accused of raping two 17-year-old girls, while Jonathan Oberti, 21, also of New York, was charged with raping one, according to Bahamian court officials.

Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez granted Wittels and the two others $10,000 bail at their Thursday arraignment in Nassau. The U.S. suspects were not required to enter pleas and returned to the United States.

It is unclear how, or if, the charge would affect Wittels’ status with the FIU program. FIU begins its season Feb. 18 and its first three games are set to be televised while Wittels continues his chase of Ventura’s record.

FIU Athletic Director Pete Garcia declined to comment about the charge.

“We are still in the process … and will wait for the process to be completed,” Garcia told The Associated Press on Monday.

Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis will begin a preliminary inquiry on April 18 to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial. By then, FIU’s season will be more than half over.